Tag Archives: Daughters of the American Revolution

Happy 120th Birthday, Baltimore Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution!

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In June, 1917, The Patriotic Marylander, a publication of the Maryland Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, interviewed the first Regent of the Baltimore Chapter, DAR, Alice Key Blunt, grand-daughter of Francis Scott Key. Miss Blunt recalled that it was initially quite difficult to get women of the city ofBaltimore to join the chapter, because “the Colonial Dames Society engrossed their attention completely.”

After about a year of recruiting efforts, the Baltimore Chapter DAR was organized on March 4, 1892, and the Chapter was granted a charter on March 18, 1892. Twelve ladies responded to invitations from Regina M. Knott, State Regent of Maryland, DAR. Officers appointed for the first year were: Miss Alice Key Blunt, Chapter Regent; Mrs. Emma Stockton Linthicum, Corresponding Secretary; Miss Margaret Phelan Keenan, Recording Secretary; Miss Elizabeth Burnap, Treasurer; Miss Eliza Snowden Thomas, Registrar; and Miss Kate Mason Rowland, Historian. The Local Board of Management were: Mrs. J. Hough Cottman, Miss Elizabeth Adams, Mrs. Alverda Griffith, Mrs. Henry Johns Berkley and Miss Bessie Graham Daves. At the meeting in October these officers were elected by the Chapter, and Mrs. Neilson Poe, however, became Corresponding Secretary, as Mrs. Linthicum had died between March and October of 1892.

The first State Regent of Maryland was none other than Regina M. Knott, who was also one of the first members of the DAR inWashington,DC. Mrs. Benjamin Harrison, the President General and wife of US President Harrison was “quite gracious…and extended the hospitality of the White House to all members of the new Society visiting WashingtonDCin 1892.”

The Chapter grew rapidly.  Just one year later, at the 1893 Continental Congress, the State Regent of Maryland DAR, Regina M. Knott, reported that there were 65 members of the Baltimore Chapter.  At the fourth Continental Congress in 1894, Miss Blunt was appointed to the national board. In 1896, Miss Blunt became interested in establishing a second chapter in Baltimorespecifically for young girls and young married women. This Chapter was named the Maryland Line Chapter. Miss Blunt stated in her interview that although she “necessarily severed my membership with the Baltimore Chapter,” it still held a warm place in her heart.

Skipping ahead a few decades, in 1898 we find the Baltimore Chapter (often referred to as the “Mother Chapter” by all subsequent Maryland DAR chapters) active during the Spanish War donating garments for hospitals and boxes of clothing to Santiago and sheets to the Red Cross.  The Chapter presented gold pieces and later medals to winners of essay contests in high schools. At the 200th Anniversary of the City of Baltimore, the chapter donated six tablets outlining the boundaries of original Baltimoretown.

In 1900, the chapter introduced a bill to the Maryland Congress to collect flags of various wars carried by Maryland Troops to be placed in the state house rotunda.  Members also donated to the reconstruction of the first monument to George Washington inBoonsboro,MD.   Later, donations were sent to National Headquarters for the reconstruction of theMarylandroom atMt.Vernon.  Baltimore Chapter contributed thirty three volumes of Archives of Maryland, two volumes of Calvert papers, and 4000 marriages copied by members by hand in court houses to the National DAR Library.

The Baltimore Chapter erected three markers in the early 1900’s.  In 1902 the chapter placed a memorial “to commemorate the patriotism and fortitude of the victor and vanquished on August 31, 1814” when the British were defeated at Chalk’s Field.   In 1906, Baltimore Chapter commissioned a large plaque to commemorate the ride of Lt. Colonel Tench Tilghman, a native Marylander and aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington, who rode from Yorktown to Philadelphia carrying the news of the surrender of Cornwallis, October 19, 1781.  Additionally they affixed a Francis Scott Key marker to the Mt.VernonMethodist Church on Charles Streetnoting that Mr. Key “departed this life on the site of this building on January 11, 1843.”

In 1907, the chapter gave a clock for the Assembly room in Continental Hall, placed in front of the balcony, facing the platform, and today it can be seen in the library.

On May 20, 1909, the chapter met at Fort McHenry to vote for the preservation of the fort.  As a sequel to this meeting, the regent received letters from President Taft and President Theodore Roosevelt endorsing plans by the Baltimore Chapter for a national celebration in 1914, the Centennial of the War of 1812-14.

Mrs. J Charles Linthicum, aka the flag lady, as she supplied copies of the American creed and flag codes to schools, was active in advocating for the Star Spangled Banner to be the national anthem and for Fort McHenry to be preserved as a national park.  Her husband, Representative J. Charles Linthicum, a good Husband of a Daughter of the American Revolution or HODAR, listened to the wisdom of his wife and worked hard for the passage of legislation for both the Star Spangled Banner and Fort McHenry. 

The chapter contributed to the Maryland Peace chimes in Valley Forge, lineage books to the Maryland Historical Society, and services to both World Wars I and II. Members purchased liberty bonds, supported French orphans, contributed to the restoration of Tilloloy, France, sold stamps and bond, hostessed in the USO, knitted sweaters for service men and volunteered where needed.

In the 1950’s benefits were held at the Vagabond Theater to purchase books for Veterans.  During this period, a 4th of July was celebrated in “by” laying wreaths on the graves of four signers of the Declaration of Independence, named Mr. Paca, Stone, Chase and Carroll.

Miss Mary Margaret McIntyre, Regent Baltimore Chapter, and other members helped with lessons for naturalization at the foot of Broadway, tutored for tests and gave away small flags.  Miss McIntyre was the first editor of the Spinning Wheel and Miss Margaret Neal assisted her.

In 1975 Judge Mary Abrabian was presented a medal of honor and later one to Mr. Edwin Perkins.  In the early 1980’s a cherry tree was planted at St. James Church, Monkton, MD, in memory of George Washington.  Through Ms. Neal, the registrar at the time, and her research in the 1980’s, three Real daughters graves were marked by the state society; daughters of Colonel Gassaway Watkins of Walnut Grove Howard County, Maryland –Caroline (Mrs. Julius Watkins), Margaret (Mrs. Albert Gallatin Warfield) Albina (Mrs. William Clark).  Later, the chapter dedicated a real daughter marker in GreenmountCemeteryfor the other daughter, Priscilla (Mrs. George Kenley), who was a member of the Baltimore Chapter.  American Flags were presented in Nov. 7, 1987 at a naturalization ceremony, and this event was publicized in none other than Sports Illustrated.

Over the past ten years, the Baltimore Chapter has received awards for its involvement with Maryland and Baltimore history, membership and perpetuation Children of the American Revolution (C.A.R), Women’s Issues and Education. We have had wonderful programs, including, but not limited to: Caring for the Caregiver, Conservation, Native American history, Immigration and Naturalization, Citizenship and Human Trafficking.  Looking forward, I  anticipate an increase in membership due to an increase in interest in and accessibility to genealogical records via the Internet and most importantly, thanks to terrific follow-up and guidance from our hard-working and enthusiastic Registrar, Mary Ann Ensminger.  Baltimore Chapter members will continue to learn about Conservation and incorporating green behaviors into their day-to-day lives from the Chapter Vice Regent, Elinor Spokes.

From the beginning, on March 4, 1892 to today, the Baltimore Chapter DAR has been blessed with hard-working and talented members, women who give of their time, energy and expertise. Baltimore Chapter Daughters walk the talk.  Through 120 years, they have perpetuated the memory and spirit of the men and woman who achieved American Independence; carried out the injunction of Washington in his farewell address to the American people, “to promote, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge,” thus developing an enlightened public opinion, and affording to young and old such advantages as shall develop in them the largest capacity for performing the duties of American citizens, and have cherished, maintained and extended the institutions of American freedom, to foster true patriotism and love of country, and to aid in securing for mankind all the blessings of liberty. Now, more than ever before, with so many other opportunities for women in both the workplace and in voluntary organizations, I am humbled by their dedication.  I look forward to new and exciting adventures for the Baltimore Chapter Daughters in the years to come.

Sources

Blunt, Alice Key. (1917, June). Some recollections of the Baltimore Chatper, Md. D.A.R. The Patriotic Marylander, pp. 263-267.

Neal, Margaret. (1992, October 24). The BALTIMORE CHAPTER D A R, 110TH ANNIVERSARY, 1892-2002.

 

Harvest Your Family Tree for Character Names

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Several years ago when I first started working on my short romance, Catastrophe, I knew I wanted the heroine to be a resilient, down-to-earth woman and the hero to be exotic, maybe someone who spoke another language. I struggled with the character names, almost leaving them as HEROINE and HERO, and the story stalled. I turned to my other obsession: spending hours researching my family genealogy.

In the midst of tracking down my grandmother’s side of the family, going back to my great-great-great-grandparents, I found them: my characters. Polly Griggs meet Simon Engleman.

Born in Berlin, Germany in 1765, Simon Engleman immigrated to Kentucky. At the age of twenty-five, Simon married Polly Griggs, age twenty, on March 25, 1790 in Lincoln County Kentucky. When I first “met” Simon and Polly, I envisioned them in frontier country, Simon in an old-fashioned European suit and top hat, Polly in a buckskin dress, bonnet on her head, a baby at her breast and a small child clinging to her skirt: the Daughters of the American Revolution Madonna of the Trail.

When I updated that image for my story, Polly became a compassionate woman who took in cats (twenty-three!), taught high school civics, and became inspired by memories of her mother to fight for those she loved. Simon became her stuttering knight in blue jeans, a student at the university failing his speech class, and madly in love with Polly—but too tongue-tied to tell her. Add an evil landlord evicting Polly for breaking the rules about pets, and the story came to life, racing along faster than my fingers could keep up. The story was published by the Wild Rose Press six days before my birthday. Coincidence? Or my ancestors giving me a little nudge? All I know is that I am now hooked on using my family’s names in my stories—and you might find it useful too. Here are some ways to root out those family monikers, and see if they fit your characters. Conversely, perhaps your ancestors will inspire some new characters to populate your romances.

1. Oral History: Talk to your parents, brothers and sisters, grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins. You’d be surprised what someone recalls about the family tree. My cousin recalled that my grandmother and grandfather married over their parents’ violent objections. Why? Because she was expected to return to Kentucky and marry a cousin—to keep the money in the family. Instead, she defied her wealthy family and married a handsome gardener for the US Botanical Gardens and the White House. Sound like a romance? Take good notes. These are great stories!

2. Family Bibles: Many families keep a record of every birth and death in a family bible that is handed down through the generations. Names and relationships that don’t appear on “official” records are often noted in longhand in these precious archives. Depending on who has kept the records, spellings often vary—giving an entirely different connotation to a name: Levisa or Levica? The first one evokes the image of a soft, feminine woman. The second, with the sound of a hard “c” evokes a tougher woman. I discovered my grandmother had a sister, Eliza, making me want to sing “I Could Have Danced All Night?” What images do your family names inspire?

3. Birth and Death Certificates: If you know where your ancestor was born and when, you can write to the Vital Records division for that state and the District of Columbia. The National Center for Health Statistics has an online listing of where to write for vital records by state http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/w2w.htm. When I wrote to the District of Columbia for my grandfather’s birth certificate from the 1880’s, I thought it was a long shot. I was surprised to receive it shortly thereafter—and even more surprised to find out he was born deaf and delivered at home, the sixth child of my great-grandmother Elizabeth and her husband, James. Don’t they sound like a British couple? He’s a grocer, she’s the daughter of a minister, and I feel a family saga coming on…

4. Military Records: If you are the child of a member of the military, you are entitled to obtain copies of that individual’s records. My parents divorced when I was in elementary school, and my father died when I was in high school. I never really knew him, and my mother wouldn’t speak of him. When I began to write my first novel, I became obsessed with World War II and my father, James Wright Bell. I wanted to know his story, and what role he played in the last “good” war. Among other things, I found out that his nickname was “JW.” Now there’s a great character handle, something different from “JR,” evocative of cowboys or soldiers. The College Park, Maryland based National Archives http://www.archives.gov has extensive resources on military records, as well as other genealogical resources—with more names and stories.

5. Books, Software, DVDs, and CDs: Amazon.com lists over sixty books and related items on genealogy, including the ever popular Complete Idiot’s Guide to Genealogy. These books range from the superficial to the nanomanager’s resource manual, so if you choose to go this route, read the reviews to see if the book fits your needs. One Baltimore based company, the Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc, has over 2,000 books and CDs to browse and is located online at http://www.genealogical.com/.

6. Online Genealogical Resources: If you are busy and don’t have time to go to courthouses, write for census records, or aren’t sure where to begin, there are a number of excellent online subscriptions for genealogical resources. I have a subscription to Ancestry.com but there are many others. There are also forums for finding out more information about family ancestors, for instance, in one posting, I discovered someone had a letter describing my grandmother as “poor Bessie.” The reason? She was deaf, secondary to spinal meningitis, and the person writing the letter despaired of her ever marrying. How could the letter-writer know that Bessie would meet the wild, motorcycle-riding gardener, Carl, on a blind date and marry less than a year later?

I have grown to know my family better in this research process and have found some great stories along the way. Now when I read my great-great-grandfather’s name, George, I see a well-to-do stern man’s face, devastated when his middle-child contracts spinal meningitis, and is left deaf by the disease. I also envision my grandmother’s sisters, Liza and Annie, living at home on the family estate, while Bessie is sent away to live at the Kentucky School for the Deaf and Dumb from the age of seven to the age of twenty-one. I envision my grandmother with great obstacles in her life—that she overcomes with her persistence, determination, and obstinate insistence on marrying the man she loves—not the one her family chooses for her. Now that is the essence of romance!

I began my genealogical research as a way to find out more about my family and the grandmother who raised me. Along the way, I discovered it was fun to have names for my characters that didn’t sound made up. In addition, I have a personal connection with the names and take great pleasure in finding just the right one from my family tree for a particular story.

Romance is everywhere you look in your family history, otherwise how would all those generations have appeared? People are born, fall in love, marry, have affairs, have babies, divorce, and die. Interesting names and intriguing stories are in the branches of your family tree, waiting to be discovered by you. Is it time you began to harvest your family tree for character names?

WORDLESS LOVE

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This week, in honor of Deaf History Month, March 13-April 15, 2011, I am posting about my grandmother and the great influence she had on my life. My grandmother, as you will see, was a very special person. I purposely included a deaf character in my forthcoming book, Desire and Deception, who personifies the strength and resilience of my grandmother. (The photo is of me at age 3 with my cousin, Gloria, who is very hard of hearing. Wasn’t she gorgeous? She was dressed up for her senior prom, so I dressed up, too!)

In 1954, when I was three years old, my mother put me on a plane in Washington, D.C., and sent me to Connecticut to live with my deaf, non-speaking grandmother, my aunt, uncle, cousin, two Chihuahuas, and a parakeet. At night, I would cry because I missed my family. As I sobbed, my grandmother would take me in her arms and hug me, making grunting noises. I’d fall asleep to her wordless lullaby of love, wondering if I’d ever see my family again, not knowing that my parents were divorcing.

A year after being shipped north, I was reunited with my family. After a year, we moved out of my aunt’s basement and into government subsidized housing. Now when we visited my aunt’s house, I had to share my grandmother with my siblings. On birthdays and graduations, she created scavenger hunts for us, leaving a trail of written clues. She must have spent hours planning the hints, writing them out in her beautiful calligraphy, and placing them throughout the house.

As I grew older and wrestled with the demons of poverty and abuse, my desire to break away from my home life dwarfed my relationship with my grandmother. Opportunity arrived in the form of a large scholarship to a university in Texas, over a thousand miles away from my mother. During the first semester of my freshman year, my grandmother became ill and died at home at the age of eighty-nine. Claiming that she didn’t want to “disrupt” my studies, my mother withheld the knowledge until I came home months later. I was devastated. I never had the chance to say good-bye to the woman who loved me unconditionally.

As I hit my fifth decade, I began to reflect on my life and lack of closure regarding her death. I felt compelled to research my family tree, beginning with my grandmother. My only clues were embedded in childhood memories of kitchen table conversations between my mother and aunt. The family legend, told and re-told, with hand-signed consultations for verification, was that my grandmother was born hearing and healthy to a wealthy family.

“Oh yes, her people had plantations,” my aunt said.

“She had pet peacocks,” my mother added, “and a pet pig that came when she clapped her hands.”

“She came down with spinal meningitis when she was three. If her parents hadn’t been so rich, she would have died,” my aunt said between puffs on her cigarette.

“Grandma’s parents sent her off to a boarding school for ladies,” my mother recalled. “She was too wealthy to be with the other girls, so she stayed with the teachers.”

As I searched for family records, calling my sister and brother for confirmation, tantalizing tidbits emerged.

“After she graduated, she went to work in Washington, D.C., addressing envelopes for a Congressman because she had such beautiful handwriting,” my sister said.

“Grandma and Grandpa were fixed up on a blind date. He was a wild young man with a motorcycle, a graduate of Gallaudet University. He was deaf from scarlet fever.” My brother, the oldest child, recalled vividly. “They fell in love and married against her family’s wishes. She was supposed to go back to Kentucky and marry a cousin, but she wouldn’t leave her gardener.”

Oral history wasn’t much to go on, but it was a start. It helped that I recalled the name of the town where we’d visited another uncle, aunt, and cousin on the way to Texas: Stanford, Kentucky. Using an online genealogy site, I was able to see U.S. Census records dating as far back as the 1700’s. I rooted around in the 1800’s with no luck. One night, I received an excited call from my best friend from high school and genealogy genius. By searching in an online National Society Daughters of the American Revolution registry, and entering two of my family names, Engleman and Harris, my friend found my Stanford, Kentucky ancestors and my family lines tracing back to the Revolutionary War. Thanks to the DAR, I had the first clues in my very own family scavenger hunt.

The elusive “ladies’ school for the deaf kept me awake at night. More weeks, more digging, more walls. After months of research, I was ready to quit. But I kept feeling as if my grandmother was standing behind me at the computer, smiling and urging me to find her. At last, I found the Kentucky School for the Deaf (KSD), in Danville, Kentucky. It was the first public school for the deaf in the United States, originally called the Kentucky Asylum for the Tuition of the Deaf & Dumb when it was built in 1823. I emailed the school, asking for information on a possible alumna named Bessie Engleman.

In the meantime, I kept mousing around in the 1900 Census files for Danville and randomly selected Enumeration District 88 (ED 88). When I retrieved the image, I discovered that the majority of people counted in ED 88 were enrolled at the Kentucky Institute for Deaf Mutes. My eyes adjusted to the old-fashioned script of the census taker, and there she was on line 19: Engleman, Bessie, White, Female, born in 1883. Within days of that find, a KSD staff member sent me an email telling me he had found her original admission card.

Bessie Engleman was student number 933 admitted to KSD. The daughter of George and Susan Harris Engleman became deaf from meningitis at sixteen months, not age three, as the family legend told. The middle child in a three girl family, KSD admitted her from Lincoln County, Kentucky when she was eight years old in 1889 and graduated her in 1902 when she was twenty-one years old.

Nine years later, she married Carl E. Rhodes on September 20, 1911 and lived in Washington, D.C. in 1918. I now had enough information to find my great-grandparents, my great-great-grandparents, and beyond, because all my grandmother’s “people” lived in Lincoln County, Kentucky—and married their cousins. In some census records, I found Harris and Engleman in-laws, brothers, sisters, and cousins, all living in the same household.

My curiosity was piqued. If the oral history about my grandmother was fairly accurate, why wouldn’t the part about my grandfather be true, too? Gallaudet University’s alumni office found my grandfather’s records on microfilm. According to the Secretary of the Department of the Interior, my grandfather, Carl E. Rhodes, was deemed a “…proper person to be received into the Columbia Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, and to be instructed and maintained therein at the expense of the United States…” The same department responsible for the welfare of Native Americans in the 1800’s was responsible for my grandfather’s education. He attended the Kendall School from 1892 to 1903, but did not attend Gallaudet University, contrary to family stories. And, he wasn’t deaf secondary to scarlet fever. Congenitally deaf, a midwife home-delivered the sixth child, Carl E. Rhodes, to a grocer named James H. Rhodes and his wife, Elizabeth Cockrell Rhodes: my great-grandparents.

Despite their incredible obstacles in life, my grandparents attended school, graduated, obtained good jobs, weathered the anger of my grandmother’s wealthy family, and raised six hearing and speaking children to become productive members of society. During the depression and beyond, my grandfather was employed by the federal government as a gardener, often tending to the plantings at the White House. My brother owns a book, handed down from my grandmother, with a photograph of my grandfather working as the Assistant Head Gardener in the U.S. Botanical Gardens.

What predicts who will be disabled in life? What foretells if a disability will cripple an individual emotionally? When I was a little girl and refused to cave in under my mother’s abuse, she would say I was stubborn, “just like your grandmother.” Instead of being humiliated, I was proud to be linked in some clear way to the woman who raised me, who loved me, and whom I adored. Today, looking back across half a century, I have a few clues to her inner strength and resilience. When I think of her, which is often, I thank her for teaching me that having a disability does not mean inability and for holding me tight and rocking me to sleep with her lullaby of wordless love.